Sandra’s Miscellany

I’m not an old codger. I swear. I’m just the other side of 40 and enjoying the fact I have a little more life experience under my belt than I did when I was 20 and thought I was invincible.

But the other day I was chatting with the dSO and decided to make a cup of tea, and I asked him if we could pause the conversation while I put the kettle on. Being the easy-going guy he is, he said, “Sure.” Why did this seem necessary to me?

Because I find I’m not interested in multitasking anymore.

A few years ago I had a project management job where I would commonly work on three or four projects each day. I could walk down the hallway of developers and conduct several different, highly-detailed, technical conversations and an hour later still record those details — accurately — in requirements or product specifications documents.

Granted, it’s been a while since I’ve been out of that particular game, but I find myself less and less willing to attempt those feats of memory and acuity. It’s not that I can’t do it, but that I don’t want to.

I originally put this down to aging — Such feats don’t do anything for my self-esteem, I don’t feel the need to do eight things at once, I’m more patient. But the dSO suggested, when we talked about it (after the tea was made), that it was due to the mindfulness meditation I’m doing.

Becoming mindful of my surroundings, interactions, and feelings with the “now” means that multitasking is, essentially, distraction. If I multitask, I may be doing eight things at once, and may even be doing them well, but I’m distracting myself from being in the Now. I’m filling up my moments with activities (as I have a tendency to do) that may or may not be the task that actually lies before me.

Interestingly, multitasking has come up on some author email groups after some of us got hold of this article in the NY Times. Most of the conversation is based around whether or not one should use a cell phone while driving, but it seems to me that something much deeper is being indicated — that we constantly distract ourselves from being present in our own lives.

So I may not do as much every day, but I’m closer to being fully present in the things I do. Not only am I able to concentrate more fully on my singular tasks, but I feel less scattered and harried because of it.

One thing at a time for me.